8 October 2014

Google Now beats Siri and Cortana in voice search tests

Google Now edged out rivals like Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana in a recent comparison test.

A digital marketing firm claims Google Now returned more search results ‘enhanced with custom content’ than Siri and Cortana combined.
Consultants Stone Temple made 3086 queries in total to all three voice assistances. Google Now yielded a score of 1795 results with enhanced content, while Siri scored 908 and Cortana returned 630 ‘knowledge panels’

The queries were designed to answer specific questions rather than offer web results, according to Android Central, reporting on the comparison tests.

Google Now also scored highest for accuracy with 88 percent of questions properly addressed, while Siri and Cortana were correct 53 per cent and 40 per cent of the time respectively.

The study did not take into account how the respective assistants performed when it comes to making appointments via the app, or dictating words, only bringing the answers to specific questions.

Given Google’s status as global search overlord, we’d expect Google Now to come out on top in this department. While the tests are far from definitive, it still offers an interesting look at slice of a much larger pie.

Elsewhere today, Google Now got an update that’ll inform users when their bills are overdue. Thanks for nothing Google Now!